SME policy to benefit all divisions

A KEY element in the Small-to-Medium Enterprise (SME) Policy draft to be presented in Parliament in August is how it will benefit various divisions within the sector, according to the Small Medium Enterprise Corporation (SMEC). Chairman Paul Pora, said on Tuesday in a business conference, that the different divisions included SME growth and development, SME business advisory and capacity division, corporate affairs, SME programme coordination and evaluation and other tangible products. Pora said the policy also took into account key fundamental areas such as cash flow.“We are seeing now the challenges in the SME funding that’s been applied,” he said.“We are looking at the reality and relevance of grant schemes and how we can partner with various agencies globally, as well as locally, to be able to provide a grant scheme that does not work within a business model of a bank.”Pora said there was a need in the draft to define what an MSME and SME was in order not to confuse the market.“We are also looking at the communication levels between our ability to formalise the informal sector and the language and financial literacies and digital literacies and business literacies elements in communications and defining that across the country,” he said.